Harry Potter and the Other Mudblood: Book 2
by nevillesremembrall
Summary: The sequel to the much loved story, 'Harry Potter and the Other Mudblood'. As Gwen goes into her second year, she faces a suspicious Ginny Weasley, unusual amounts of attention from Seamus and a mysterious Chamber that threatens to imprison her forever.
1. The Theivery of the Elf

**xA/N: I'm baaaack. And better than ever. Writing 'Harry Potter and the Other Mudblood: Book 1' really helped teach me something about my own writing. I hope that this time, lots of people will review. That would be awesome. And I really hope that all of my old readers are back because I love you guys. All of those emails that told me that my stories had been put on alerts or favourited really helped me keep going. So I kept going. And I now present to you: Harry Potter and the Other Mudblood: Book 2!**

_Dear Harry,_

_I know that it's only been a week but I thought that I would write to check in. I hope that your summer's been okay. I know that you and your relatives don't exactly see eye-to-eye. You know that you can always write me. I promise I'll respond. Well, mine's been good. I've been playing tennis practically non-stop. Mum's dead set on it. But it's fun anyways and it seems to help me with my flying. The grips are the same and swinging the racket really helps you figure out how to control the broom. I guess that's all. Always,_

_-Guinevere Montgomery_

_Dear Harry,_

_I'm not sure that you got my last letter. It's been nearly a week and I don't think it's possible that Hedwig is slower than Errol and I've already received a response from Ron. Just a reply would be nice - I want to know that you're still alive. Anyways, I was wondering if maybe, once we get our Hogwarts letters, you would want to plan to go to Diagon Alley with Hermione and the Weasley's? I think it sounds good but the date we pick really depends on when your relatives are willing to drive you. Or we could pick you up. That would be fine with me. Waiting,_

_-Guinevere Montgomery_

_Dear Harry,_

_Okay, I decided that I'm going to borrow Errol - however slow he may be. I want to get my letters to you and the post owls don't seem to be working. I'm assuming that you've been writing to Ron and Hermione so I'll get them to ask why you haven't been replying…_

_Dear Harry,_

_Ron said that you've not been responding to him either. Don't you like us? I'm going to mail Hermione and…_

_Dear Harry,_

_Hermione too? ANSWER US!_

_Dear Harry,_

_I'm getting seriously worried…_

_Dear Harry,_

_What's going on…_

_Dear Harry,_

_Has something happened…_

_Dear Harry…_

_Dear Harry…_

_Dear Harry…_

_Dear Harry,_

_I'm going to try Muggle post. Number Four, Privet Drive, right? This better work…_

_Dear Harry…._

oo0O0oo

Gwen sat gazing out the window, a letter from Hermione clutched in her hand. They were both very concerned. It had been nearly two months and Harry had not written. Ron was also going without responses to his letters to Harry. Had something happened? Or was he just ignoring them?

She looked back down at the letter:

_Dear Gwen,_

_How are you holding up? Just as worried as I am I suppose. I can't possibly understand why Harry hasn't been writing. I'm so afraid that something terrible had happened. Harry did say that You-Know-Who wasn't destroyed…no! I mustn't think that way. Ron seems convinced that it's something to do with Harry's relatives. I'm afraid that he's going to do something rash - he always does. It's only a little over a month before we find out once and for all if Harry will return to Hogwarts. And then we can get really worried. Sincerely,_

_-Hermione Granger_

Suddenly, Gwen blinked and stood up. There was someone at the mailbox, extracting a letter! In fact, it was not a someone, but a something. A bat-eared, large-eyed, pillowcase-wearing something. She could clearly read the name on the letter he was stealing - to: Harry Potter!

She flung open the door and dashed down the driveway.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

It turned its large, green eyes on her before tucking the letter away with a whimper and disappearing with a crack. Gwen stayed there for a minute, staring at the mailbox. Whatever that thing was, it was most definitely _not _Muggle.

oo0O0oo

Over the next few days, Gwen kept a careful watch over the mailbox. However, the creature did not return. She even tried putting bits of parchment in the mailbox but that didn't work. Finally, she decided to try mailing another letter to Harry.

Sure enough, an hour after the post was in the mailbox, the creature appeared. It had only just reached in when Gwen came out to stop it. This time, the thing spoke before disappearing. "_Bad_ Dobby! _Bad _Dobby!"

Shocked, Gwen mailed another letter the next day. The Dobby-thing appeared and creaked open the mailbox, not even looking behind him.

"Dobby!" Gwen called out sharply, causing him to drop the letter he had been stealing.

"M-mistress Narcissa?" he whimpered before turning around. "Oh no, it is just Harry Potter's friend, Gummy. Dobby is very sorry Miss Gummy but Dobby has to go now…"

"Oh no, Dobby - you're coming with me!"

She marched him into the house and up the stairs to her room, her hand gripped around his tiny wrist. She was glad that her parents were gone for the weekend because she knew that they wouldn't have been too calm with something like this in the house. She pulled a small wooden chair out of the corner to face her bed and ordered him to sit in it while she took the bed.

"Please explain yourself!" she growled, sounding very much like she didn't mean it when she said 'please'.

"D-Dobby is so very sorry, Miss Gummy, but Dobby had to. Dobby had to take the letters," he pulled a thick wad of letters out of his pillowcase clothing. She could spot her writing along with Ron's impossible printing, Hermione neat cursive and Hagrid's illegible scrawl.

"You _had _to?" Gwen said more gently. He sounded genuinely sorry.

"Y-yes. To protect Harry Potter, Miss," his eyes widened fearfully and his hands clamped over his mouth. He quickly took a hardcover novel off of her bookshelf and began beating himself over the head with it. "_Bad _Dobby! Mustn't say! Dobby must be punished!"

"What are you doing?" Gwen panicked and snatched the book away. "Stop that!"

Dobby returned to stand in front of Gwen, his eyes timid.

"I'm sorry I snapped. Why don't you sit down and tell me about it?" Gwen offered.

But this was clearly the wrong thing to do.

"S-sorry? S-s-sit d-down? Oh…I never…never _ever_…" he wailed.

Gwen felt extremely out of place. She didn't know how to comfort the thing. Come to think of it, she didn't even know what he was. He had taken a careful seat on the chair and his eyes shone as he looked at her in awe.

"How about we start with this," Gwen offered. "Who are you?"

"Dobby, Miss, just Dobby - Dobby the house elf."

"House elf?"

"Yes. A house elf is a servant. Bound to serve the family he is connected to forever."

"Well, that's not too bad. At least you've got a nice place to live - a mansion I'd expect."

Dobby eyes shone. "Oh no Miss, Dobby is not an equal. Dobby is a servant. Kept in the cellar, always punished for mistakes always treated-" Suddenly he stopped and began hitting himself on the head again. "Oh bad, bad Dobby. Almost speaking ill of his family!"

"No, no, no, let's not talk about you're family then. Let's talk about Harry. Why don't you just give me his letters?"

"Dobby cannot do that, Miss Gummy. Dobby has to protect Harry Potter. Harry Potter must not return to Hogwarts."

"What?" Gwen asked worriedly. "Why not?"

Dobby bowed his overly large head. "There is a plot. A terrible plot to harm Harry Potter. He must not return - for his safety."

"Who's plotting? Dobby - you've got to tell me!" Gwen grabbed onto his shoulders.

"Ah! But Dobby cannot, Miss Gummy. Dobby cannot!" he choked, banging his head against the wall.

"What if I guess it? That would be alright?"

Dobby nodded slowly.

"Is it…it couldn't be…You-Know-Who…could it?" she whispered.

Dobby toppled off his chair. "No, not _He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named_, Miss," Dobby said urgently, eyes wide.

"Alright, then if it's not him, is it someone else?" Gwen asked desperately.

Dobby shook his head urgently. He looked like his eyes would pop right out of his skull.

"So it's….it's not You-Know-Who but it _is _V-Voldemort?"

"Speak not the name!" Dobby squeaked. "Speak not the name, Miss!"

"Alright. So it is You-Know-Who, but only _sort of_?" she asked carefully.

"Dobby cannot say! Oh! Dobby cannot say!"

"Dobby, you have to tell me. Harry's in danger. If he doesn't come back to school, he'll be miserable. If he does, he's in danger. He's got to come back to Hogwarts and I've got to know what's going to hurt him, so I can protect him."

"Ah, Miss Gummy is very brave. But Dobby cannot say. Dobby's masters will be missing him and Dobby must return to his home. Goodbye, Miss Gummy. Dobby hopes you will be safe;"

And with a crack, Dobby was gone.

"Dobby! Wait, you've got to tell-" Gwen began. But he was already vanished. "…me."

Gwen paced her room in frustration. Her head was reeling with the clues that Dobby had attempted to give her.

If Harry was in danger, and he must not return to Hogwarts then it must be something powerful. Something that can get past Dumbledore. And it was You-Know-Who but it wasn't. It was only sort of him. Him in a way… It all made her head hurt. It didn't make any sense at all. And if she couldn't protect Harry, something terrible could happen.

She was sure that Harry thought that they hated him. He thought that they hadn't been writing him. She knew that she would have tried to send a birthday present but she decided to save it for when she saw him again - if she saw him again.

She was in that sort of a state for a little over a day before she got two very worrying letters.

_Dear Gwen,_

_Harry hasn't been writing us. It's almost his birthday. That means that he's been unreachable for about two months. It's really scaring me. So me and the twins decided to go rescue him. We'll be there for him by the end of his birthday. I'll mail you when we manage to get him out. From Ron_

_Dear Gwen,_

_Did you get Ron's letter? I so afraid that he'll do something illegal. That would be awful. Do you think he'll manage? What if they get expelled? I don't know how to keep calm with this sort of thing happening. Oh Gwen, I'm not even too young to have an anxiety attack. My parents are simply going out of their minds with worry. They say I'm acting all together quite peculiar. I haven't let my room in days, I don't go to sleep until near midnight. All my time is spent waiting for an owl and…oh! Gwen, I won't feel any better until I know he's okay - and that Ron hasn't been arrested. Sincerely,_

_-Hermione Granger_

And even worse when she sent off her replies.

_Dear Hermione,_

_I'm worried too, but whatever Ron does, Harry will be better off than he is now, whatever's happening with him. My hand is shaking much too much to write a longer letter. I'll send you another letter another day. I'll see you on Wednesday, in Diagon Alley. Don't worry too much about Harry. It'll be alright. Still worrying,_

_-Guinevere Montgomery_

_Dear Ron,_

_I do hope that you, Harry and the twins are all right and that you didn't do anything illegal or immoral to get him out. That would be awful - especially because I wasn't there to help. Anyways, you may have already gotten a letter from Hermione telling you this but we're going to Diagon Alley on Wednesday and I hope that you will come with us. Reply as soon as possible to let me know what's going on. Always,_

_-Guinevere Montgomery_

It only took a day for an explanation to come from Ron. Gwen was quick to send another letter.

_Dear George,_

_ARE YOU CRAZY? You three flew a car to Little Whinging to rescue Harry? And you didn't take me! I can't believe you. This is the sort of thing that I would absolutely love - flying a car. And you didn't even tell me what you've been planning. Well, anyways, please make sure that Harry is alright and that you're mother doesn't die of stress over your little flight. Can you do that for me? That would be great. I'll see you on Wednesday then. Always,_

_-Guinevere Montgomery_


	2. The Redhead who Lost Harry

**A/N: This chapter is where we are really going to start seeing changes. My goal is to branch out from the original as much as possible, with minimal references to the novel. I wrote this chapter completely without the book. Congratulations to me!**

Gwen looked into her bedroom mirror as she brushed through her hair. She had on her faded Van Halen band tee-shirt underneath her Gryffindor robes. She was, of course, going to wizarding London. Gwen absolutely had to look the part.

She had the letter from Ron about what time they were going to meet her and Hermione in Diagon Alley folded neatly in her pocket. In her left hand she had the letter explaining what sorts of supplies she'd be needing for her second year at Hogwarts.

_SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS WILL REQUIRE: _

_The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Miranda Goshawk _

_Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart _

_Gadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart _

_Holidays with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart _

_Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart _

_Voyages with Vampires by Gilderoy Lockhart _

_Wanderings with Werewolves by Gilderoy Lockhart _

_Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart _

Whoever this Gilderoy Lockhart was, he must be pretty impressive. The new Defence teacher must be using them. Gwen looked forward to reading all about the adventure's of such a great wizard - well, he must be, to be so famous.

Giving her hair one more brush through, Gwen twisted it and put it up with a huge, black hair clip. She dashed downstairs where her family was having breakfast.

"Good morning!" she said brightly.

"Morning sweetie. Ready to go?" her mother asked.

"Yes. See ya dad, bye Ellen," Gwen waved, opening the door.

It was a long drive but eventually they were in front of the Leaky Cauldron.

"Bye mum. Thanks for the ride," Gwen leaned in to kiss her mother on the cheek.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come in? You can do this on your own?"

"Absolutely!"

Running through the doorway, Gwen was greeted by the familiar sight of the Leaky Cauldron. It was as dark and as dingy as ever. It seemed like the same two old witches were always there, nursing half empty sherry glasses. But this time, there was no Professor Quirrell stuttering in the corner._ If she'd only known…_

"Hey Tom," Gwen called to the bartender.

She was about to walk out back and open up the gateway to Diagon Alley herself when she heard a small, worried voice in the corner calling to her.

"Gwen."

"Hermione?"

The bushy-haired witch stepped out of the shadows and came to stand beside Gwen. Her hair was even more impossible than normal and she looked about ready to dash out of the doorway at any time. Her hands were shaking.

"Hermione, what's going on? I thought that we were meeting outside of Slug and Jigger's."

"I know - but Harry's gone missing!"

The two girls soon found themselves facing the brick wall. Hermione frantically tapped on the stones with her wand.

"Missing?" Gwen asked, fear growing.

"He was with the Weasley's, all ready to go. But they used floo powder travel and he stuttered the name. We've no idea where he's gone. _He could be anywhere in London!_" Hermione ranted, rushing out of the ever growing doorway.

"Wait! Slow down!" Gwen called, chasing after her.

Hermione led her to a group of pale-faced redheads. Percy appeared to be the only calm one. Hermione stood beside Mrs. Weasley and attempted - in a very Hermione way - to comfort the panicking woman. George turned when Gwen came near them. He too looked quite worried, though he managed to put a weak smile on his face.

"Hey blondie," he greeted. The twins had taken to calling her blondie during her first year when they had plotted to charm her hat to turn her hair blonde. They knew how much she would have hated being blonde. She seemed to think it would sink her down to the intelligence level of Lavender Brown and her empty-headed ways.

Gwen briefly put her hand on George's shoulder as a way of greeting as she moved farther into the group, sights set on one individual.

"You idiot!" she cried, smacking Ron on the side of the head.

He gave a sharp yelp and turned to face her. "Oy, what was that for?"

"For losing him! And for the flying car! Have you got no brain - not at all?"

"I have too," he muttered, rubbing his head.

"I seriously doubt it."

"Me too. After a hit like that, I wouldn't be surprised if it's jumped out of his ear," George joked.

"I'm surprised it hasn't run away already-"

"What with Ron not taking care of it and all."

"Aye, and all that tripping over stuff ought not to help it," Fred finished.

"Boys!" called Mrs. Weasley sharply. "This is no time for teasing! We absolutely must find Harry!"

"Yes - we'll split up. Mr. Weasley, Percy - you two take around Gringotts. Mrs. Weasley - you take Ginny and search down by the Leaky Cauldron area. Ronald - you go by Flourish and Blotts. I'll search by Olivander's and Gwen - you go with the twins by Slug and Jiggers in case he meets us there when he gets to Diagon Alley. Alright everyone - move! We've got to find him!"

Everyone dashed off in different directions. The twins ran off with Gwen pulled along between them. They ended up outside the Apocarthy.

While the twins stopped random people on the street and asked if they'd seen a scrawny, rather awkward boy with black hair, Gwen spent most of her time hyperventilating and panicking. They, of course, earned their share of slaps from Gwen but she was occupied most of the time, pacing up and down the crowed street, looking desperately for Harry.

When she thought that she would never find him, she turned around to yell at the twins. They were attempting to counts the eels eyes in the jar in the window when a yell came from further down the street. It sounded remarkably like Hermione.

"Harry!"

Gwen looked up and there he was, Hagrid behind him and Hermione in front. She was pointing her wand at his face.

Gwen didn't know what was happening. She could feel herself moving but she didn't know how she ended up knocking Harry over.

"Harry! What's in your head, giving us a scare like that?"

"Gwen!"

She pulled him back to his feet.

"Gwen, I'm sorry. But this thing - D-"

"Dobby?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah…how did you know?"

"I caught him stealing my letters to you from my mailbox. Sound about right?"

"Yes," said Harry, astonished.

"Excuse me, I love that you two are catching up, but could you _please_ fill me in?" Hermione interjected.

"Well," started Harry.

"This house-elf named Dobby was stealing all of Harry's letters. So he wasn't getting them."

"He said I was in some sort of danger. Some kind of plot that was going to happen at Hogwarts. He thought that if I thought I had no friends, I wouldn't want to go back and I would be safe."

"Ridiculous notion. You'll always have us, Harry," Hermione said.

"Thanks," he grinned.

"But I do admit, it is suspicious business. Are you sure he wasn't lying?"

"Positive," Harry and Gwen said together.

"Alright then, we absolutely have to get to the bottom of-"

"Harry!" called a shrill voice.

Mrs. Weasley was bustling towards them, arms wide. She scooped him into a bone-crushing hug, sobbing tearlessly into his shoulder.

The rest of the family wasn't far behind. The twins were standing back a bit, having seen their whole exchange. Mr. Weasley was red and out of breath and Ginny had somehow managed to keep proper hold of her mothers hand while Mrs. Weasley was hugging Harry. And Ron was there, standing off to the side, looking really worried.

"Mate, where did you go?"

"Kockturn Alley. Good thing I found him," Hagrid said. For such a large man, he was surprisingly easy to forget about.

"_Knockturn Alley? _Harry, that's dangerous business," Mr. Weasley warned.

"Trust me, he knows." Hagrid said darkly.

"Well," said Mrs. Weasley. "no need to dwell. Let's go on then and buy our books."

And so they headed towards Flourish and Blotts.

It was simply crazy. Gwen couldn't remember a crowd like that since the last concert she had been to. But then she saw the sign. _Gilderoy Lockhart, At Flourish and Blotts. Book Signing._

Gwen was excited to see him. She hadn't read his books yet but he sounded truly impressive, merely from the titles. They pushed their way to the front and picked his set of books off of the shelves. Mrs. Weasley looked star struck. Gwen felt that she could easily become that way too. That is, until she saw him.

Blonde, wavy hair. Generically handsome with sparkling blue eyes and dimples, he was clearly attractive. His smile looked as though he could blind. And the witches fawned over him as if he were Rick Springfield. But what really repulsed her - not that she didn't like Rick Springfield, because she did - was the way he acted.

He was self-important and frequently called to the cameraman to get his best side. He fed bogus lines to the reporter and seemed to live off of the cheers. Gwen felt like it would make her throw up.

Looking beside her, Gwen could see Ginny's tiny, eager face, Mrs. Weasley's completely mesmerized one and, to Gwen's great surprise, Hermione's awestruck expression.

"Hermione?"

"Oh, isn't he just _wonderful_?"

"Er-Hermione?"

"He's so impressively brave and so _handsome_ too!"

"Never mind…"

Gwen moved away to stand beside Harry, sharing an eye roll. They spent the next few minutes snickering at Lockhart until his clear, cocky blue eyes scanned over the crowd, coming to rest on Harry. Lockhart's face hardened with brief determination before it melted into a mask of joy.

"Harry Potter!" he called.

"Oh no, no, no…" Harry muttered miserably.

"Just…here," Gwen moved in front of him.

"Young lady, could you please move. Mr. Potter, come up here," the reporter called eagerly.

"I don't exactly think he wants to come up right now…"

"Nonsense! Come up here!"

And Harry was dragged up to the front and shoved beside Lockhart, in all of his smiling glory.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he began. "When young Harry here stepped into this shop today to purchase my autobiography, _Magical Me_…"

Hermione sighed adoringly and clapped enthusiastically.

"What? That's not even true."

Gwen looked pointedly at Hermione when she spoke.

"Oh, but listen to how simply _generous _he's being."

"…free of charge."

"Oh, yuck! How bogus is that?" Gwen said, pursing her lips as she strode up to pull Harry away from Lockhart. He was carrying a huge armful of shiny, new Lockhart books that Gwen now eyed as if they were poisonous. Harry held them away from his body as if he felt the same way. Moving slowly back towards the Weasley clan, they shared looks, confirming that they held Lockhart in much the same regard.

"Here, here Harry, I'll take those and get them singed with the others all right? You all move along!" Mrs. Weasley insisted.

"Mrs. Weasley, I don't want them. You can have them and I'll buy my own set. All right?"

"Oh, too kind dear. You are. All right then…"

As Harry and Mrs. Weasley had this discussion, Gwen glanced up at the second level of the bookstore only to find a pale, malicious face peering down at her.

"Come on Harry, I absolutely can't stand crowds like this. Let's go."

"Alright. Where's Hermione and Ron?"

They pushed and pushed and eventually somehow managed to get to the exit. They were just waiting for the twins to be ready to go when they heard the familiar drawling voice of Draco Malfoy.

"Bet you just _loved _that, eh Potter? Famous little boy can't even go into a bookshop without being-"

"Pathetically insulted by a snake like you?"

His head shot to Gwen.

"I forgot how much I missed your clever comebacks, Montgomery. Care to join Slytherin where you belong, yet?" Malfoy asked, taking another step down the stairs.

"Not on my deathbed," she spoke low and dangerous as she came up onto the stairs, taking a step with each slow, deliberate word until she was all but nose-to-nose with him. Malfoy had grown over the summer and was now about the same height as Gwen. She wasn't too pleased about this - she had quite enjoyed being able to tower over him, at least for the year she had.

A small whimper sounded from beside Hermione. Ginny had been watching the exchange in silence, but something about Gwen and Malfoy's soundless battle had weakened her and a small sound had escaped form her tight lips.

Malfoy turned from Gwen to target Ginny.

"Well, well. Look's like Potter has got himself another girlfriend. Cheating on Montgomery, are you then? Careful - I think her hair will change colour if she gets too angry. Merlin knows what someone did to her to get it that way in the first place."

"Harry," Gwen warned. He looked ready to pounce. "If someone's going to slap that comment out of him, it's going to be me."

"Fighting words?" Malfoy came down another step.

"No Crabbe and no Goyle. Careful Malfoy - you might actually have to do your own fighting this time."

"Think you're amusing, Potter?"

"Well, well. What have we here? This couldn't be the famous Harry Potter."

A tall, thin man with hair that matched Malfoy's came striding into the shop, holding a slender cane with a silver snake head handle in his right hand. He was clearly the father of the little weasel standing before them.

"I have been ever so curious to see the face that had the power to overthrow the Dark Lord." Mr. Malfoy pushed a fringe of Harry's hair back from his forehead with the wooden end of his staff, revealing the famous scar. "And there it is. The scar that changed everything…"

He dropped the hair. Hermione shrunk back uncomfortably as his cold eyes turned to her.

"And you must be Miss Granger," he began, voice droning on smoothly. "I have heard quite a bit from Draco about you and…your parents. Muggles?"

She nodded carefully.

"Ah, yes. Now let me see, quite the head of hair. No mistaking something as - well - ostentatious as that."

"Ostentatious?" Gwen said hotly.

"And a flaring temper? You must be one Miss Guinevere Montgomery. I have heard the absolute most about you."

"Flattered," Gwen commented sarcastically, eyeing Draco.

"And where's the other one - Weasley, isn't he?"

They hadn't been able to find Ron on their way to the exit, so they had grabbed Hermione and continued on, hoping he would be with the twins. But he had yet to make an appearance. Gwen was certain that he was still uncomfortable because of Gwen's scolding earlier.

"Ah, here's one now."

Ginny bowed her head, determined not to look.

"What's going on here? Ginny, what's wrong?" Mr. Weasley pushed his way to them, standing on Ginny's left. "Oh-I see. Malfoy."

"Weasley. I heard about all the _extra_ raids the Ministry has been organizing lately. You are in charge of that department, are you not. All quite unnecessary but I do hope they're paying you overtime. But, by the looks of things," he reached out and plucked one tattered, old book from Ginny's cauldron and held it awkwardly as if poverty was contagious. "…I'd say not."

"Now Lucius, you can go around acting all important at work, but I won't have you do it in front of my family."

Mr. Malfoy dropped the book back into Ginny's cauldron.

"Well, I'd rather not associate with a disgrace to the name of wizard as you."

"Disgrace to the name of wizard? We have such different opinions on that matter, Malfoy."

"Clearly. And you wonder why you still live in disgrace. Can you possibly sink any lower?"

Suddenly, they were fighting. Punching, kicking and the whole lot of it. The kids stood out of the way. Ginny looked about to cry, Harry looked impossibly guilty, Hermione simply looked shocked, Malfoy looked smug while Gwen looked - in lack of better words - utterly pissed off.

"What's wrong Montgomery, worried about your dear little redhead clan?" Malfoy stayed up on the steps, not coming down to her level.

"I've got more emotion in one cell of my body than you've got in your bane of an existence."

"Careful, you might hurt my feelings."

"Malfoy you-" she began, but she was kicked in the leg by a stray blow. They couldn't tell who it was, everything was too chaotic.

Quickly, Harry yanked her back, lest she be further injured, Ginny let out a gasp and Gwen stopped herself mid-sentence. Hermione hadn't seen, she was too busy hiding her face in her hands. Malfoy's hard, arrogant mask had melted into a look of almost shock. They could see the dark splotch forming itself on her. She bruised awfully easy. Gwen whipped her robe to cover it and took a step back out into the fray.

"Can we not do this now?" she pleaded, adding to his human-like surprise. "They're going to kill each other and as much as I would simply _love another excuse to fight with you, we can't let them hurt themselves."_

"_I-I-"_

_Malfoy was saved from having to come up with a response by a loud, booming voice sounding from the doorway._

"_What's this now? Arthur! You get off o' him! Here we go-"_

_Hagrid had entered the shop, startling all inside of it. Cameras flashed as the reporter attempted to come up with an angle to include the fight and rescue into the article about Lockhart who was - of course - flashing his perfect smile and calming down the crowd._

_The two men were forced apart and they glared at each other._

_Mr. Weasley was cradling a pain-ridden wrist while Mr. Malfoy pinched his bloody nose._

"_Yeah dad! You got him!" a voice cheered._

_They turned around to see Ron jumping up and down with the twins on either side of him._

"_Where've you been?" Harry asked, voice shaking a bit._

"_Got lost in the crowd, teasing Percy about reading a book about successful prefects."_

_Gwen turned her head juts in time to watch both Malfoys slink out the door. Malfoy turned his head and caught her eye before turning back to exit the shop, cloak drawn tightly over himself. Gwen, in turn, didn't glare, but merely watched, feeling a little responsible for the whole conflict. Maybe if she hadn't taken Malfoy's bait, Mr. Weasley wouldn't have fought Mr. Malfoy. Just maybe._


End file.
